He ran for the Manitoba legislature for the second time in the 1936 provincial election, this time campaigning in the constituency of Winnipeg, which elected ten members by a single transferable ballot. He finished twelfth on the first count, did poorly on transfers and was eliminated on the eleventh ballot.

Thorvaldson was finally successful on his fourth attempt at elected office, in the 1941 provincial election. He again ran in Winnipeg,[3] and this time finishing seventh on the first count. Subsequent counts confirmed his position, and he was finally declared elected on the nineteenth ballot. The Liberal-Progressives and Conservatives were partners in a coalition government during this period, and Thorvaldson served as a backbench supporter of the ministries of John Bracken and Stuart Garson.

He was re-elected in the 1945 election,[3] finishing eighth on the first count and securing election on the fifteenth ballot.